Method for slaking lime and producing hydrate of lime



July 9, 1929.

w. H. 'BARTON METHOD FOR SLAKING LIME AND PRODUCING HYDRATE OF LIME Filed om.v 18, 1926 gwuentoz attenua/ l Patented July 9, 1929.

UNITED STATES/*PATENT orf-'Ica WILLIAM H. BARTON, F LOB ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOB TO BLUE DIAIOND OOIPANY, OF LOS ANGELES,

CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION Ol' m01) IOR BLAIING LIKE PBODUOING-HYDRATI ,Ol Iam.

Application ma amber 1s, me. semi. n. '14s,1ao.

This invention relates to a method for produc' slaked lime and hydrated lime.

Hereto ore, it has generally been neces` sary, after slaking of lime, to store the slaked 5 lime for a substantial period of time or, as

quires no aging but which is equal to or superior in quality to the products produced bythe prior apparatuses and processes. The slaking of lime consists in the` addition of water to the burned or quick lime, whereby there is a chemical reaction between the lime and water to form hydroxid of lime or Ca (OH) the reaction taking place in accordance with the formula If s uicient water is added to leave the lime wet, it is called lime putty, and if only enough water is added so as to form as a result of the reaction a dry powder, it 1s called hydrated lime. If more water is added to the powdered hydrated lime, putty is formed as 1n the first case. However, the ordinary hgdrated lime will not, with the addition o water, produce as much lime put@ in point of volume as if the quick lime was originally slaked to produce lime putty and furthermore, the Iluality of the putty produced isinferior. hisis for the reason that if quick lime is first slaked without suiiicient water, it is burned and the .particles of lime do not go through the proper expansion, the volume of putty is decreased and likewise the working quality of the putty, there being a close relation be-Y tweenvolunie and plasticit or working uality. This burning is ue to the lac of water .to satis and absorb the heat of the chemical reaction and permit the heat or energy developed thereby to be expended in the expansion of the lime particles. If lime particles become dry or partially so during slaking or hydratin they fail to expand to the maximum, and t is ph sical condition of lime particles in the resu ting putty causes a smaller volume of putty, less sand carrying capacit and less plasticity or spreadin capacity. f too much cold water is -adde the chemical reaction is retarded and theV heat or energy generated bythe chemical reaction is expended heating the water rather than in the expansion of the vlime particles. y

I have discovered that if quick lime is slaked in hot water under pressure or in a closed vessel, the chemical reaction is en.- couraged and the heat or ener of the chemical reaction is saved for t e ex an sion of the lime particles. When quick 'me isadded to hot water, such as at or near the boiling point, there is a violent boiling or agitation of the mass and if suiiicient water is added so that there is plenty of room for each lime particle to expand, the maximum expansion is obtained and each particle of -lime is exploded into an irr ar, flocculent mass. In this way, the maximum volume of putty from a given quantity of quick lime is obtained and the putty is -eatly improved in its working quahties.

reover, it appears that the putty or slaked lime produced 1n this manner does not require any aging prior to its use except as may be necessary to remove the excess water and reduce putty to a workable consistency. In accordance with the usual processes of producing slaked lime, it is necessary to age the lime or the lime, upon use, will blister due to the presence of unslaked lime. This appears to be due to the fact that the slakin of lime as ordinarily carried out with co d Water results in some particles of uick lime being .coated over with the slakedl lime are completely slaked, with the result that it is necessary to age the slaked lime to insure that these unslaked particles of uick lime will be slaked prior to the use o the product.

It further appears that in most limes, there are diiferent degrees of burning or calcining of the lime due either to irregularities o thephysical condition orv impurities in the original stone or due to the irregularity of burning or calcining of the lime. If

of the hot waprocess ogf the product before said particles of` los.

terin the slaking process, the reaction is caused to proceed with such violence that all of the particles of the quick lime are exploded and positively brought in contact with'the slaking water so that immediately a product is produced in which every particle has been properly slaked and, therefore, the putty produced is ready for instant v use as a high grade product.

Furthermore, it is found that the putty produced in accordance with the present invention possesses the additional property of being adapted to be dried into the form of a hydrated lime in which the product is in the form of a dry powder and that said dry powder may be thereafter admixed with water to form a lime putty for use. This ability of the lime putty of the present invention to form satisfactory hydrated lime is not possessed by the common forms of lime putty. It has heretofore been found that when lime putty is dehydrated .to the embodying the invention.'

form of hydrated lime that said hydrated lime will not again react with water to .form a satisfactory lime putty but the lime putty produced is unstable, dense, and of httle covering power.

The present invention, together with various further objects and advantages of the same, will best be understood from a description of the preferred method and apparatus Reference is therefore made to the accompanying drawing, in which there is indicated dlagrammatically a suitable apparatus for the production of slaked lime putty and hydrated In the drawing, 2 indicates a weighing hoprer provided at its bottom with a valve 3. Y

rom the weighing hopper 2, the quick into the tank 6 and the quick lime into the receptacle 7 the opening 5l should be closed by means indicated at 9. The bottom of the receptacle 7 is indicated as provided with a valve 10 which should have an .Op` erating handle extending through the sides of the tank. After the tank is closed, this handle is then actuated to open the valve 10 and dump the quick lime into the hot water in the remainder of the tank. The contact between the quick lime and boiling water sets up a violent boiling action akin to an exploslon so that each particle of the quick lime isthoroughly slaked and separated from unburned rock or other impurities therein.

The bottom of the tank 6 is preferably indicated as. provided with an agitator 11 for stirring the mass after which the mass may be permitted to settle to the bottom and be removed through a valve l2. There is also preferably provided a man hole'13, which may be employed for cleaning out the tank 6 or for repair work.

The lime putty withdrawn from the valve 12 is passed through a line 14 and over an inclined screen 15 where the coarse particles may be removed. From the inclined screen 15, the puttyv flows into a vat 16. The vat 1s preferably provided with suitable means, such as indicated at 17, for passing water through the vat separated from the lime putty in order to cool the putt and at the same time preheat the water. rom the vat 16,

there 1s a line 18 for passing the water to a' heater 19 from which the water may be passed through a line 20 to the tank 6 for the production of further lime putty. The heater 19, in practice, may be heated by stack gases from a line 21 of a lime ln'ln,

or by any other suitable means.

The material within the vat 16 is now-in condition for use as first class lime putty.

putty is dried thereby to a powderl and. scraped ofi' by a knife 25 and deposited in' -areceptacle 26. It is obvious that in place of the drum drier', any other roper drying apparatus may be employed or this stage o the process.

The powder, when removed, may be ground or pulverized to produce a more uniform product. The product thus produced when admixed with water, is found to produce a .putty of substantially equal volume and quality to the ori al putty.

While the process of s aking lime and producing lime putty. and lime hydrate herein described is well adapted to accomplish the objects of the present invention, it is understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the details of the rocess orapparatus without departing rom the present invention and the present invention includes all such modifications andchanges as come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A process of slaking lime which comprises mixing quick lime with water at or near its boiling point,the water and lime being `admixed in proportions suflcient to produce a lime putty.

2. A process of slaking lime which comprises admixing water near its boiling oint with quick lime, and maintaining the a mixture under an evolved pressure greater than atmospheric.

3. A process of the class described which comprises admixing quick lime with hot water in suliicient quantities to produce a lime putty in a closed vessel, and thereafter dehydrating the putty to a powder.

4. A process of the class described which comprises admixing quick lime and water near its boiling point, the proportions of quick lime and Waterbeing sufficient to produce a lime putty, maintaining the admix- 20 ture under an evolved pressure-greater than atmospheric, and thereafter dehydrating the lime putty to a powdered hydrate.

5. A process of slaking lime to form a stable, plastic, artificially aged lime utty comprising adding quick lime to a body of hot water in quantity sufficient to completely h drate the quick lime, and maintaining t e mixture in a closed vessel until hydration is substantially complete.

6. A process of making dry hydrated lime adapted to forma plastic lime putty comprising slaking lime to form an artificially aged lime putty by adding quick lime to a suicient uantit pletely hy ate t e quick lime, in a closed vessel, and then drying the lime utty.

Signed at Los Angeles, Cali ornia, this 12 day of October 1926.

WILLIAM H. BARTON.

of hot water to com-` 

